Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowling Association

Saturday saw a quality field of 22 pairs of all ages entered for the R H Green Trophy at Finch Hill sponsored by Newsbeat and they were blessed with a cloudy but generally dry day and a very good green.

A number of Island players were entered and last year’s winning pairing of David Bradford and John Kennish had a bye in the first round and had a long wait for their first match despite being drawn first. 

Steven Waters and James Teare therefore got the draw underway and quickly overcame Ian Kissack and Rob Corkill 21-10 to set up a second round tie against Bradford and Kennish. At the other end of the draw Neil Withers and Paul Dunn got off to a good start beating Derek Allen and Alec Taylor 21-10.

Other notable first round matches included good results for Peter Greenlees and Mike Ashmole, Les Brookes and Pat Maher, Brian Kelly and Juan Killip, and finally Jimmy Sansom and Shaun Seal with several strong pairings also receiving byes.

The long wait for their first match must have affected John Kennish and David Bradford as they had no answer to the steady scoring of Steven Waters and James Teare who won convincingly 21-11. Walter McCarthy and Luke Hyland showed that they would be a force to be reckoned with as they beat Tony Epifani and Reg Temporaza 21-13. Paul Leece and John Ruscoe had a close match with Peter Greenlees and Mike Ashmole but eventually won 21-18, however the closest match of the day was between Kevin Firth and Eddie Carlyle and Les Brookes and Pat Maher with the former just edging it 21-20. The home team of Paddy Murphy and Paul Dougherty had their chances against Brian Kelly and Juan Killip but eventually lost out 21-15 whilst the young pairing of Glenn Boland and Sam Clague pushed hard against Jimmy Sansom and Shaun Seal only losing out 21-16. 

The penultimate match of the second round was an all Finch Hill affair as Peter Hughes and John Smith took on John Harris and Sefton Dent with the former coming through 21-15. The final match of the round saw the in-form pairing of Paul Dunn and Neil Withers take on father and son team of Glynn and Ryan Hargraves but Dunn and Withers easily overcame them and demonstrated why they would be contesting the latter stages of the competition.

As you would expect by the time we reached the quarter finals there were no easy matches and the top players were getting the feel of the green and we were treated to some wonderful bowls. In the top half of the draw the match between Steven Waters and James Teare and Walter McCarthy and Luke Hyland was expected to be very close but in the end McCarthy and Hyland eased to a 21-12 victory. Kevin Firth and Eddie Carlyle did enough against Paul Leece and John Ruscoe to win 21-15 and by a similar score Jimmy Sansom and Shaun Seal beat Brian Kelly and Juan Killip. The closest match of the round saw local favourites Peter Hughes and John Smith just lose out to Paul Dunn and Neil Withers 21-18.

The semi-finals saw Walter McCarthy and Luke Hyland pushed all the way by Kevin Firth and Eddie Carlyle but they just did enough to win 21-18 and it was a similar story in the other match as Paul Dunn and Neil Withers overcame Jimmy Sansom and Shaun Seal 21-16.

In the final, Walter McCarthy and Luke Hyland got off to a great start with a four pointer on the first end and led 13-6 before Paul Dunn and Neil Withers put a score on the board. However, Dunn and Withers levelled the score with the next three ends only to see the opposition bounce back to make the scoreline 17-13 after 10 ends. Unfortunately, McCarthy and Hyland could only muster another two points over the next six ends and Dunn and Withers ran out winners 21-19.

The prize presentation was made by Ken Kinrade, Competition Secretary for Finch Hill with the losing finalists receiving £50 Newsbeat vouchers and the winners £100 Newsbeat vouchers and the R H Green Cup. Special thanks go to our generous sponsors Newsbeat, to our ladies for keeping everyone fed and watered throughout the afternoon and to all the stewards, measurers and markers who helped make this a very successful competition.